Free as a Bird in a New World
by kirbymanx
Summary: *Cancelled unless my interest is reignited* Shadow left the past behind him, and he's lived in the in the present ever since, but the most important part of his past made an unexpected yet welcome return. (Takes place after Generations or Lost World. Meaning looooong after the events of the Shadow The Hedgehog, of which most plot points will be ignored.)
1. Shadow's Diamond in the Sky

_**Location: ?, Time: Irrelevant**_

"Boys, you won't believe what I found down this lake!" Vector The Crocodile yelled at his partners.

"Is it the lost lure!? 'Cuz I wanna go hooooome!" Charmy Bee whined.

"No, but it looks like it's just as important. There's one of them science-fiction experiment tubes down there. There's a girl inside."

"Cool! Now wha-"

Espio The Chameleon interrupted his younger colleague. "We have to help her!"

"Precisely what I was thinking," Vector nudged his head signaling to: "jump in, it looks heavy, even for me."

"Boss… You're the only one who can swim." Espio said flatly, Charmy nodded along with a ' _yeah'_ fist raise.

"I know that, Espio, I was talking to our client. But you and Charmy can get a rope to help her out if we're not enough." Espio nodded, Charmy jokingly saluted and sped off. "Mr. Big, I presume you can swim?"

"I can." Big The Cat the big cat answered.

"Splendid, let's help that poor girl out. Once she's on dry land we'll resume our search for your lure."

"Okie-dokie."

 _ **Rouge's Villa, Night Babylon, Sometime in the Morning**_

What do you on a beautiful sunny day and have time to kill? Some go sporting, others go to the beach. If you're Shadow you sleep in your room until something comes along to prove he's the ultimate life form. If you're Rouge The Bat, you go _Treasure Hunting_ or actual non-stealing Treasure Hunting. And if you're Omega you're trying to hunt down the Eggman once and for all. Why yes, they do all live under the same roof, and are about to do those mentioned a moment ago respectively. When not working for G.U.N., running a casino, a nightclub and teasing (sometimes threatening) each other this is what the trio known as Team Dark usually does when they have time to burn.

Shadow was lying comfortably on his bed, dreaming about stuff he liked. I assume that's just about justice, action everywhere to prove his superiority, keeping everyone else safe, Maria, Monopoly, races and Team Dark on motorcycles. He was snapped out of it when Rouge knocked on his door. "Shadow, we're off." Rouge said referring to herself and Omega. "Can you stop by the Chaotix to hire them to find the Doctor's latest base for Omega? I put some money on the dinner table." Rouge knocked a little harder. "Can you hear me?"

"Yeah, I heard you. Consider it done." Shadow mumbled loud enough for his housemates to hear.

"Alright, take care, Shadow." Rouge answered back as she and Omega left for work. breakfast and lunch was something they usually skipped. Rouge just picked something healthy out of the fridge and she's good.

Shadow got up from his bed, his jet shoes were already on. Polished to the Nth degree every night with the safety on. He left his clean enough room to zoom over the money bag, and flashed past Rouge and Omega who just opened up the door for themselves. Once on the road he jet skated towards San Francisco Zone, home of the Chaotix. This job should be easy for Shadow The Hedgehog: _The Ultimate Gofer!_

"See-you-later, too, Shadow." Omega waved.

"Say, Omega. Both of us know Shadow isn't really that open with his feelings and for all I know I could be dead wrong. Do you ever get the feeling that Shadow's unhappy?" Rouge asked in a concerned tone.

"No, seems-like-regular-behavior-for-Shadow." Omega stated what's obvious.

"That's what I mean, he doesn't seem to like anything, Omega."

"Ever-seen-him-race? It-even-offsets-me." Seriously, ever did good on _Racing Transformed_ with Shadow? Ugh...

"No, I was kinda bitter for being rejected from that tournament. I went treasure hunting to clear my mind. I just want to cheer him up..."

"He-needs-a-hobby. Suggestion: Invite-the-Blue-Hedgehog-over, Shadow-will-be-so-aggravated-that-he-regains-his-will-to-live-through-hatred-and-by-beating-him-up. That's-what-cheers-me-up."

"You talk as if he's suicidal. And I don't think that be good for either one's health. A hobby sounds good though… How about we give him a Chao egg? He could use little cutie."

"Who's-going-take-care-of-it-when-G.U.N.-needs-us? Those-idiots-don't-learn-from-their-mistakes-in-their-infancy, it-could-drown-in-a-pool-as-big-as-yours."

"Good point. I'll… Think of something to give to him."

 _ **San Francisco Zone Act 1 Past, The Chaotix Detective Agency, a Few Days Ago**_

"How's she, Tails?" Espio asked as he entered the room with the tube and the most friendly genius he barely knew who'd do it for free.

"Based on my analyses she's alive and abnormally healthy, she should be in above average condition." The fox replied. "In that capsule must be some oxygenated liquid cure-all. Can I keep the liquid once we're done? It would be beneficial to the scientific community and eventually all kind."

"I'm sure that Vector's okay with that, I don't see what we could do with it." He said leaning against the wall. "As long as we free the blond and get that thing out of the office so Charmy and Vector can stop complaining that it takes up too much space. Which it does." Espio ranted.

"I can do that. Draining it should be no problem, I still haven't figured how to open it, but nothing I can't figure out, and borrowing clothes from Amy for her to wear should be easy but possibly embarrassing."

"I can relate..." Espio implied something, dunno what thought. The young girl's kinda distracting us to properly concentrate, 'cept Tails. No, I'm not in the story.

Tails went back to examine it one more time. Fortunately the double checking proved useful. It was a barely noticeable water tight drawer in the stasis tube. "Fascinating..." A few seconds and a few page turns later Tails gasped.

"What is it?" Espio asked as he walked closer so he could read over Tails' non-existent shoulder.

"It's the notes for this machine. This tube is from the Space Colony ARK. Contact Shadow, he must see this."

 _ **San Francisco Zone Act 1 Present, The Chaotix Detective Agency**_

"Shadow, long time no see!" Vector said behind his bureau once he stopped trying to write song lyrics and started to notice the black and red edgehog. "We've been looking for ya for days. We couldn't find ya in any phone book."

"I have no house of my own, I live with Rouge." Shadow: _The Ultimate Freeloader_ stated flatly. "And if I did you wouldn't find me under the name: Hedgehog." Shadow The Hedgehog is a title given to him, because he's _THE_ hedgehog. It's just Shadow. Well technically it's...

"Has that something to do with your job?" Vector said referring to the military. He also started eyeing Shadow's bag.

Shadow didn't answer him. "Why were you searching for me?" He pointed.

"Take a seat."

"Not yet." Shadow put the bag on the desk. "Omega wants you to locate the doctor's base. If you pull it off then this is all yours." Vector eyes practically became slot machines when he looked at all the cash.

"We're on it." The croc handed the bag back. "But seriously, take a seat. This might shock you."

"I doubt it."

"So it all started on our last case."

 _And the detective explained to the hedgehog what happened in the looks into the past above, their quest for Big's lure, the tube, the girl and now what they found out._

"... and that's when Espio and Tails found that it's from the ARK."

Shadow gasped, a sight seen rarely. Vector expected it though, that's why he let Shadow have a seat, besides just courtesy. "It can't be..." Shadow said in disbelief.

"Ya see where this is going?"

Shadow nodded. "Are you sure it's her? Because she wasn't the only child on board the ARK." He said with his hands clasped to the desk and more emotion out of him Vector has seen out of him in a long time.

"Yeah." Vector looked at the hedgehog for about half-a-minute. Shadow was in deep, deep thought.

Shadow snapped out of it. "Are you sure?!"

"We have multiple pieces of evidence to back it up."

"Where's she located? I need to release her!" Shadow sounded desperate.

"Don't worry 'bout that, she's been free since yesterday. Once Tails freed her and mentioned you, she wanted to see you too. Espio thinks that her being around you will help her get used to her new surroundings."

"That's good," Shadow finally mellowed out. "but where is she!?" Nevermind.

"Shopping with Espio and Charmy, she needed clothes. They should be back soon."

"Good, I'll stay here until they do." Shadow relaxed as he put one leg on his knee and crossed his arms. A few minutes have past, Shadow just sat there, Vector went back to writing lyrics.

Suddenly! "Ah! Forgot to to tell ya something, Shadow. She may look a little different." Vector understated.

"How different?"

"WE'RE BACK!" Said the welcoming bells of hell behind the door, known to some as Charmy's voice. It's not that bad… But it did make Shadow and Vector cringe and turn their attention towards the door. Said door opened, Charmy made himself visible carrying a bag of clothes, presumably. "Espio said he's training again. Hey Shadow!" The bee waved.

"Shadow?!" A hoarse voice said, it sounded foreign yet familiar to Shadow. Following the bee was a yellow bird girl around Maria's age prior to her death wearing what Shadow vaguely recalled as Amy Rose's Extreme Gear attire. She had dark blue eyes just like... The bird girl looked at Shadow with a gasp. "Shadow! It's really you!" She dashed towards the hedgehog for an embracing crushing bug.

Shadow didn't expect a bird to suddenly hug him, let alone this tight. "M-Maria? Is that really you?"

"Yes! I missed you so much, Shadow."

Shadow wanted to belief it, but he was skeptical. He hoped that this isn't an elaborate ruse by a Shadow lovin' Amy Rose wanna be. The blond canary girl's emotions did feel genuine, though. As did the tears against his chest fur. He wriggled himself free. "I'm afraid I'm not entirely convinced, 'Maria'."

"She is Maria, Shadow. At least it's her in a different body." Vector said before Shadow could emotionally hurt the girl. "I have Professor Gerald's notes right here to prove it. And why don't you ask her some questions only Maria would know for confirmation." Charmy kept quiet for now during this uncomfortable situation.

'Maria' clasped her hand together. "Please read it, Shadow. Do what Mister Vector says. I am Maria, I swear."

Shadow grabbed Gerald's notes. "Very well. I want you to be who you claim you are. Maria, and let me say preemptively that I really missed you." Shadow said like he was about to cry with the tiniest smile on his face.

"Oh Shadow." She said both so joyful and hopeful. Anyone could easily tell this was heavy on their hearts for the both of them. It would be such a shame if she turned out to be an impostor.

 _ **Hello there, I'm the narrator. Did you enjoy it? What do you think what's going to happen? Will the writer apologise for the terrible spelling? Is she the actual Maria? Like there's mystery there... Enjoy this random thought given form below:**_

 _ **San Francisco Zone Act 1 Bad Future, The Chaotix Detective Agency**_

"You call this FOOD!?" Vector said.

 _ **San Francisco Zone Act 1 Good Future, The Chaotix Detective Agency**_

"That was delicious."


	2. Aves Maria

_**A Few Days Ago, The Chaotix Detective Agency...**_

Tails examined the stasis tube one more time. Fortunately the double checking proved useful. It was a barely noticeable water tight drawer in the stasis tube. "Fascinating..." A few seconds and a few page turns later, Tails gasped.

"What is it?" Espio asked as he walked closer so he could read over Tails' non-existent shoulder.

"It's the notes for this machine. This tube is from the Space Colony ARK. Contact Shadow, he must see this. It's Maria!"

"I'm on it." Espio turned invisible, threw a smoke bomb to the ground or left the room,. Whatever ninjas do nowadays. Tails began to thoroughly read through Professor Gerald's notes.

 _ **Yesterday, Early in the Morning, Same Place**_

Tails' machine drained the liquid from the vertically standing tube via a hose on the bottom. As the water drained Maria stopped floating around in it, gravity returned to the girl as she slowly descended to her knees. A cheek was pressed against the glass. Don't worry, she won't suffocate in this airtight tube without the breathable liquid. "Done." Tails fiddled with the tube one last time. It made a bleep and a red light became green.

"Time to open up, right?" Vector, the only Chaotix in the room, asked.

"Right." The fox nodded. The Croc tried to open the door, a muscular guy like Vector shouldn't have that much trouble with something like that. The hinges were probably the only thing damaged in the water since they're horribly rusty. Tails spread out a bedsheet on the ground and spread out an adult sized towel on top of the sheet. He was on standby to catch the bird.

Three minutes later there was enough space for the still unconscious Maria to squeeze through. Tails, with some effort, lifted her up. He rested her body on top of the towel. She quickly got wrapped in both the towel, the sheet and placed her on the couch. Gotta say, it looks really cosy.

"I have to go, this liquid won't study itself. You sure you guys can do the rest?" The fox asked as walked back to his machine to drag it home.

"As long we don't leave her alone with Charmy, she's in safe hands."

"Alright. Any luck contacting Shadow?" Tails asked as he was about to leave.

"No. Do ya know in what city he lives? Because I couldn't find him in any neighbouring city's phone book."

Tails scratched his head thinking about it. "No… But if I see him I'll let him know. Bye."

"Bye." Vector sighed as he looked at Maria. "Looks like she'll be staying for a while..."

 _ **Seven and-a-Half Hours Later...**_

The whole Chaotix was in the room, Vector was lying back in sofa listening eyes closed to the Japanese/European soundtrack of Sonic CD. So his eyes weren't paying attention to the now dried up Maria. Espio was drinking tea on the ground, he was sitting down facing the couch. So once Maria wakes he was the first to know. Charmy was just lying on his belly reading his Skies of Arcadia comic book.

Then there was a moan. The chameleon and the bee took notice.

 _ **?**_

She felt weird. Several new sensations came to her. For example: everything felt slightly ticklish. "Charmy, tap Vector on the shoulder." A deep voice whispered. Who's Charmy? Who's Vector? Where was she? Her eyes were too tired to open yet.

"Alright!" A loud youthful voice yelled. It made her winch, the sudden movement made her realize she felt shorter, her eyes, head, hands and feet felt gigantic. Speaking of feet, she couldn't feel her toes, just a foot. She also noticed she can't move, something constricted her. Was she captured? What was she sitting on? A tail? A really wide tail? Did she become an Animal?

"Don't yell so loud!" A gruff voice screamed louder than the previous one, yet is somehow less cringe inducing. "Stop fooling around, she's waking up." The same voice said softer.

"But we!..."

"Hush..." Espio cut Charmy off. She could still hear the bee's muffled voice speak. She finally had enough energy to open her… beak?! Yeah, she felt a beak now. With some hardly noticeable teeth, confusingly enough.

She made a few moans. "What?... Who?"

"Don't worry, you're safe here." The whispery voice reassured her.

With that she found it less difficult to open her eyes, which she did slowly. She saw young bee, a teenage purple chameleon and giant crocodile. She tried to look past them, she vague recognized it as a messy living room. It's kinda intimidating. But not enough to ask a few questions. "Where am I?" Her voice sounded different, a little husky. "What happened? What happened to my voice? What am I? Am I who I think I am? Who're you?!" She now noticed she was wrapped in a bed sheet.

Espio answered her questions. "I'm Espio, that's the boss, Vector and that's our tracker, Charmy. You're safe within' our detective agency. What happened to you is written down in your grandfather's notes." Vector showed it off. "We don't know what happened to your voice. You're a canary. And if you remember that you're Maria Robotnik, the grand Gerald Robotnik, friend of Shadow The Hedgehog and an unfortunate victim of N.I.D.S., you are who you think you are."

"Did you have to bring up N.I.D.S., Espio? She's just awake and ya give her that harsh remember." Vector scolded Espio.

"Yeah, that's mean!" Charmy yelled. "What's N.I.D.S.?" He asked Maria.

"Charmy!" Vector yelled.

"It's okay, Mr. Vector. N.I.D.S. stands for _**N**_ _euro-_ _ **I**_ _mmune_ _ **D**_ _eficiency_ _ **S**_ _yndrome_. It weakens a person's immune system drastically..." Maria explained to Charmy somberly. "Among other things..."

"Well, good news, ya no longer have it. Nowadays there's also medicine that suppresses it. If not eliminate entirely." Vector said. He doesn't follow the advances in the medical world so take those words with a grain of salt.

"Now that you mention it. I feel better than I usually do." Maria smiled, she felt better than ever.

"That's great!" Charmy yelled gliding in circles.

"Yeah." Vector agreed. The room went silent for a few second.

Then it hit Maria out of the blue. "I'm not wearing any clothes, am I?" She blushed.

"Here." Charmy threw some pink clothes on top of Maria. "Put these on."

"We'll be in our office behind that door, if you need us. If you have anymore questions, just ask." Vector said. "Here's Gerald's notes, if you think you can handle what you find out." That doesn't bode well for Maria.

 _ **A few seconds later...**_

" _NO PEEKING BEHIND THE DOOR, YA LI'L BRAT!"_ Bursted a voice behind the door.

 _ **A few minutes, and a thorough reading through later…**_

The now clothed Maria had several questions and reactions to her grandfather's notes. Among those are: 'Poor chao. I'm a clone? Biolizard? I didn't mind if were to die prematurely, grandfather... Shadow…' Maria needed answers, and the only ones who could answer them was a team of misfit detectives.

She knocked on the door. "Come iiiiiiiiiin~!" Charmy said really quietly. Maria entered the room. Espio and Vector noticed the Maria's face.

Espio got the first word in. "You must have a lot have a lot on your mind." Maria nodded.

"W-what happened to the ARK? Are there any survivors?"

'Remember to sugarcoat it for her, she doesn't need to know need to know her Grandad went nuts.' Vector reminded himself. "It was shut down after G.U.N. discovered your grandpa was working on something with government money that he wasn't allowed to work on. So he got sent to take your grandpa to a firing squa-" Vector got a slap from Espio.

"We agreed that we weren't going to mention about that, Vector." Espio's voice got suddenly really deep. "This is hard a enough situation to be in already."

"Grandfather? How?" A tear went down the canary's face. Charmy's got real sympathetic and got her a seat. "Thank you, Charmy." The bird thanked the bee.

"Ya can leave if this gets too heavy for you, Charmy." Vector pointed at his six years old friend.

"Okay." The bee left. Good, because I don't see him adding anything.

"Where were we?" Vector asked.

"My Grandfather's death."

"Right." Vector looked to the ground and scratched his head. "Little information on this was released to the public, but we once got the chance to instigate it. He was killed by a firing squad. For what we don't know. Right, Espio?" Vector elbow poked the ninja.

"Um… Correct."

"When was he executed?" Maria asked. She felt really heavy.

"Give or take 50 years ago." The chameleon answered calmly.

"WHAT?! What year is it?" Water escaped her eyes.

"Take it easy, please." Vector signaled for Maria to relax. "It's 20XX."

Maria's heart sank. "Everyone I knew must be dead." Her voice cracked slightly. Possibly tears.

"Wouldn't be so sure of that, most of them just got old. Except for Shadow."

"Shadow is alright?" She said so hopeful with her hands clasped.

"Yeah. We're still trying to contact him since we figured out your identity."

"We figured you'd like the company of familiar face." Espio added.

"That's wonderful." Now the canary was reassured that adjusting to her new second life will be a little easier. Well if Shadow believed her anyway. Saying you're Maria when you don't look or sound like Maria might be a little hard to believe...

"All thanks to you."

"Huh?" Thanks Mr. Chameleon, Maria is confused.

"You helped Shadow esca..."

"She wouldn't remember that, Espio. Her memory got probably uploaded before she saved him." Vector cut the ninja off.

"Saved him from what?" Maria has had enough confusion. Vector had another 'Oops let that slip' moment.

"Ask Shadow, we don't know the details. Speaking of Shadow. You're free to stay here can stay here until we come into contact. You can sleep in Charmy's bed, he can sleep on the couch."

"Does he mind that?" Maria said, worried for the little boy's comfort.

"He won't." Vector shook his head.

"He will." Espio nodded his head as corrected Vector.

"I shall sleep on the couch if he wants." Maria compromised.

"Are ya sure?" Vector asked.

"Yes, I'm sure."

"Alright, just protect us from Shadow if he finds out..." Vector shuddered.

Maria giggled. "I shall." One more time, something came to one of the characters realized something. "Oh, I have three more questions, may I ask them?"

"Shoot."

"Do you maybe have some more clothes? Where did you find me? And what's a clone?"

 _ **This felt too clumsily written, this is just the setup. The things we researched are, did the Babylon Rogues have teeth and what NIDS does. What's that? I just got word that the author can't write Charmy or explain things properly, among other things. Have a gag:**_

Notice that the G.U.N. Commander wasn't one of Maria's concerns. Because he was a jerk even back then. He was taken of the ARK 'cause bad behaviour. He only invited Shadow to dinner in the to stay on his good side.


	3. Exchanging Note

_**Before proceeding with this chapter we would like to to know that Professor Gerald's notes have been paraphrased for the layman to understand. And what that means is that the writer is a layman.**_

 _ **~Lemon The Narrator**_

Project [blank] entry 1: After studying the Black Arms alien blood injected into Project Shadow, I couldn't in good heart inject my beloved granddaughter with the same thing. I've doomed the planet, with my hasty decision with that alien. But I'm certain Shadow can and shall take care of it, he's exceptionally strong, he's possibly the ultimate life form. But for now he's Maria companion. I'm getting off-topic, I need to start from scratch with Maria. The cure for N.I.D.S. still eludes everyone, I'm all out of options now, I will have to resort to liquidizing some Chao… I'm not happy that I will have to resort to that.

The mystical energy within them kept them alive for thousands of years. It's the only way for Maria to live longer. There one problem, it doesn't work on Humans, so she'd have to become an animal. My previous experience with animals haven't been so great.

The Biolizard had grown too large and needed life-support, Shadow went a little too well all things considering, needed inhibitor rings to not accidently destroy everything in sight. I need a more harmless animal. Maria likes canaries, I'm going with that. Project Freebird. I need to work on this in secret in my spare time.

Project Freebird entry 2: I've made some amazing progress. The screams of the Chao was a reminder that I do this for the good of all kind. The Chao would become extinct if we were to use them to cure diseases. For Maria's sake I'll continue this just for her. Her new body has been completed and the memories have been uploaded.

Project Freebird entry 3: Something hit me; I may be overestimating how well the canary Maria clone will take her new body once she awakes. It might be a little traumatizing to her once she learns she's actually dead. I cancel this project, back to finding the cure, worst case scenario I use Shadow's blood.

This pod was built to be indestructible as it's supposed to be launched to earth once the ARK is in a critical condition. So once goes something horribly wrong, Maria will live on.


	4. The Bird, The Grump and The Lackeys

Shadow'd just read the note for himself. Everyone was on their edge of their seats for his verdict of this foregone conclusion. The note was plausible. He recognized the handwriting as Gerald's. Doesn't agree that he's considered too powerful, if anything he has the ideal amount of power anyone wishes they could have.

The Maria in front of him was and wasn't Maria simultaneously. She seems like Maria speech and body language wise. But her voice… never mind, different body, different voice. She definitely was a clone, therefor not the original. But he'd didn't care if it turned out he was a clone, why should he care if this was still Maria? He looked up into the canary's teary eyes, and she looked back. They radiated the same kindness Maria always does. He figured that her memory wasn't complete. "Time for some questions. Are you ready?"

"Yes." She nodded.

"What's the last thing you remember?"

"Uhmm… I am not sure... " Maria's head was kinda fuzzy on that subject. "...You won in Monopoly, you liked the battleship piece." Maria smiled, she almost won with that one.

Shadow shared a mutual smile, for he had some fond memories of Monopoly. He had trouble holding back his own tears. He needed to buy it for Rouge's house. It's been years since he played. "That doesn't really give me an idea when your memory was uploaded." The Ultimate Monopoly player said.

"You could have just asked what month it is. It was June."

Shadow gasped very slightly. "That's two months before..." 'Better not to bring it up how she died for now if these inconsistent detective haven't already.' He gave the detectives behind Maria a look. Espio is as stoic as himself is at times and Charmy's just snickered.

"Before what?" Maria skeptically asked. She had some idea, Shadow's tone in his voice gave a lot of hints.

Shadow's face visibly cringed. He ignored the question. "Let's hurry things up. Tell me something only Maria would know about me." He said with a dramatic finger point.

"In your shoes you have a hidden compartment for your "lucky security hanke-""

"MARIA!" That was all the convincing Shadow needed, as far he's concerned she's truly Maria now. Emotion took over the Ultimate Life form as he tightly glomped his lost friend, cheeks touching, barely even caring she told an embarrassing secret. The feathery cheeks were a pleasant sensation for the both of them. "I missed you..." Tears came from Shadow's eyes for the first time in… Did Shadow ever cry? What's that? A single tear in Sonic Adventure 2? Never noticed. For the first time in a long while and an even longer time since he cried so hard.

The Chaotix were taken back. "This is surreal." Espio whispered to Charmy.

Maria wiggled her arms free enough to hug Shadow back. "Are you okay, Shadow?"

"Yes." Shadow replied. "In fact: I feel fantastic." Shadow tone lightened up. It's still really shaky from the crying though. After a while they loosened their grip, first Shadow, then Maria when she got the hint.

"You play monopoly and have lucky hanky?" Moment breaker Charmy snickered.

"Don't tell anyone about the latter, you little insect." Shadow threatened with a underhanded finger point. The bee kept snickering and the rest are unfazed.

"Shadow..." Maria said like a disappointed and annoyed older sister. Shadow wordlessly crossed his arms.

"Let's go." Shadow took Maria's hand, the money bag, Maria's bag(s) of clothes and went for exit.

"Goodbye, thank you for everything." Maria waved.

"Wait!" Vector yelled. Making the Hedgehog and Canary stop. "This one job's free. Someone in your position shouldn't have to pay." The croc pointed at Shadow. "You, however, can pay for her clothes." Shadow glared at the detective.

"Here's the receipt." Espio said from behind the two, startling at least one of them. He handed over a note too. It read: _Onday'tay Entionmay Ofpray Eraldgay'say Inalfay Omentsmay._ Luckily, Shadow is the Ultimate Pig Latin comprehender.

He took some money out of the bag. "Here… Farewell." Shadow grumbled half heartedly. "Allow me to take you home." He said a little softer to his aviary friend as he, again, took her hand and almost dragged out of there like a child. Maria gave a smile and waved goodbye again.

"And don't worry about that case Omega's case. We're on it. And Maria, feel free to come by if there's some detective work to be done."

"I shall." She replied. The door closed.

"I haven't seen him this happy in ever!" Charmy said.

"Don't get used to it!" Shadow shouted back.

"Shadow, bee nice." Maria was barely heard as she teased.

 _ **Later, by the nearest bus stop…**_

"You've changed a little bit." Maria said.

Shadow sighed. "I have..."

"You used to be not as grumpy. A lot must've happened."

"You have no idea. It's a long story, it started with your death, got amnesia as well lost some common sense and an alien invasion. I'm leaving a lot of details out."

"Should I be lucky I wasn't a part of that?" She said unsure.

"I would've liked your company when I had amnesia. But then the aliens attacked. It's for the best that you stayed out of that. And during that time the world broke apart, among other events." He stated flatly.

Put yourself in her shoes, you've been dead for 50+ years, you get better (for a lack of willingness to give a better term) and you hear this. Your face is probably as precious as her's right now. So many different emotions at once because she trying to visualize it. "Well… You've had some excitement… How do you fare now?"

"After I got my memory back I decided to leave my past behind me."

"Sorry to put a damper on your plans." Maria teased.

"You know I don't mind you." He said softer than usual. He pulled her in for a hug. She complied.

"Ow." She said as one of the Ultimate Spines penetrated through feathers, causing her to unintentionally push Shadow away.

"Sorry. I thought something was off with our earlier hug..."

"It's not your fault." The conversation ended there. Time for a new one: "Made any friends?"

"Yes, we'll meet them soon. I live with them in Night Babylon."

"I don't remember that city in the atlas of the Empire States we had."

"It's a city of the night, and one of the many casino cities, people rarely sleep."

"Why would you live there?"

"Rouge, runs a business there."

"Who is Rouge?"

"One of my friends." And then it was quiet for a while. The bus was really late. They surprisingly hadn't much to talk about. On the ARK, they usually talked about what's it like down on Earth. Wanting to explore it.

"...UT HOW ARE WE SUPPOSED TO PAY THE BUS FARE!?" Something with the voice of an funny Austrian accented burly man yelled in the distance to someone. The other voice was audible, but not understandable. Shadow did recognize the two though. "HOW WAS I SUPPOSED TO KNOW THAT WAS THE WRONG BUS!?" They came closer from the direction the bus is drives to.

"By looking at the time. 11:11 is a different number than 11:41. You just confused an one for a four among other ones." A soft sounding tried to teach his friend. His arm over his shoulder.

"I'M CONFUSED!"

"Building you with such limited intelligence was not one of Dr. Eggman's greatest idea." Why yes, they are Orbot and Cubot; Dr. Eggman's gofers. "But you're far from the worst."

"REALLY?"

"I don't know." Orbot finally stopped looking at his friend to look forward where's going. He saw Maria from the side, he and Cubot recognized that was some behind her. Probably someone they don't know. Of it is someone they know, but they don't have know that. "Good morning." Orbot greeted the two as he joined them waiting for the next bus.

"Good morning." Maria replied, as she stared at the curious robots. They were nothing like any robots she had seen. "You're designs are simple yet genius, who created you?"

"They're created by a scientist known as Dr. Eggman."

"IT'S SHADOW!" Cubot tried to runaway with Orbot in hand. Orbot was scared too, but had courage. He held his counterpart back.

"You know these two, Shadow?"

"They're the right hands of one of the most notorious terrorists. Don't worry about them though. They're pathetic."

"HEY!" Cubot yelled.

"No, no, Cubot. He's right." His tone was bit fake.

"NO, WE'RE NOT PAFETHICK!" That's the accent for your info.

"We're done with this argument." Orbot stated.

"WE ARE?" Cubot scratched his head.

"We're just here to take the bus."

'I could follow those two to Doctor's base to save the Chaotix the trouble and Rouge's money. But bringing Maria home took more of a priority. If this really is their way home I've to clue those detectives in.' Shadow mentally facepalmed himself. 'Should've exchanged phone numbers.' Shadow thought. "We noticed. Don't try anything." He pointed at the two with a chaos spear.

Maria, once again, didn't know what to think. Here were two 'terrorists' in front of her, and Shadow was nonchalant. Her hand was tingling at the sight of the energy coming out of Shadow's hand.

Hurray! The bus is finally in sight. Everyone got ready. "Sorry 'bout the delay." The bus driver apologized. "Th' previous bus had a terrible accident, th' cause's not yet known. It's 'n terrible shape. Tis trip is on th' house." Maria and the 'bots thanked and took their seat.

Few Minutes Later…

'Riding a bus is amazing!' Maria was in awe as she looked out the window. So many places to went by she'd like to visit one day.

Shadow was looking at reflection directed at the 'bots. "Mary." Shadow said next to her.

"Huh?"

"Can you go by the name; Mary?" He asked nicely.

"Why?"

"You're starting a new life more or less, might as well embrace it." Shadow explained. Maria stared at her friend. "Okay, your name is distracting me…" He deflated. "I'll still call you Maria in private if you want."

"All right, if it helps you." Maria's sure that wasn't the whole story. But he had good points.

 _ **The same as the previous time stamp…**_

"HEY ORBOT, WHO'S GOT THE EMERALD?" The vocally chaotic Cubot whispered.

"My sensors indicate that that orange cat with red stripes has them." Orbot pointed.

"WHICH ONE?"

"The one with the white muzzle and belly."

"OKIE-DOKIE!" Cubot pulled out net bazooka and shot at the cat. Miraculously, he flawlessly caught him. The bus driver lost his concentration, the bus was swaying left and right. Everyone was laying on the floor or on top of each other.

"Wow! This ain't cool." That orange cat said.

"Good job!" Orbot shot a hole in the roof with a laser gun. "Quick! Before anyone can catch us!" He yelled as activated his fancy-schmancy new jet pack attachment.

"JA!" Cubot grabbed onto Orbot's torso. And they blasted off. No they didn't, the jet booster wasn't built for to support 'red cat''s weight. Ergo; they go slower than planned.

"HEEEEAAAAAAUUUUULP!" The cat said clinging onto the hole. The bus began tilting. The driver hit the brakes. Everyone who just got up were lying down again. A lot of them screamed in pain.

Shadow got off Maria quickly to chase them through the hole. Maria did the same, once she pulled out some black needles. Shadow threw many Chaos Spears at them. He misses. "You're going to hit that cat." The 'bot keep flying higher.

Maria was right. "Damn." Shadow looked at Maria's wings. "Can you try something?"

 _ **Not all that much later...**_

The orb and the cube both held on to the net. "Sorry about this. We just came to get your Chaos Emerald."

"SO GIVE IT TO US!" Cubot yelled.

"Chaos Emerald?" The redcat was confused. "All I have is this ruby." He pulled out of...

"That's a chaos emerald." Orbot snatched the gem away.

"My ruby!"

"HERE, TAKE THIS PARACHUTE!" Cubot said, and Orbot delivered. The cat hastily put it on.

"Now don't forget to pull it the string… We're letting go now." Orbot warned him. "3, 2,"

"Now Mary!" Shadow yelled hanging Mary's talons?/feet.

"Thunder Shoot!" Mary launched an electrified Shadow at the 'bot. Since it's at level 0, it just stuns them while they fall down clasping net. Shadow nabbed the net with the cat, and boomeranged back to Mary. "You are all really light, all things considering." Mary noted as she descended slowly.

The two 'bots broke free from being stunned. Not sure if that's the right to say that. "We still have the Emerald! Let's get out of here!"

"WE'LL BE BACK!" Cubot yelled as they blasted off.

 _ **Back on the ground...**_

"I really didn't know that's a Chaos Emerald, Mr. Shadow. If I had known I wouldn't have taken it with me." The orange feline explained. "At least got a nifty parachute out of this."

"How did you acquire it?"

"The parachute?" He asked, hopefully as a joke.

"No." Shadow answered lighting quick. "The Emerald."

"It just struck me in the back of my head." What also got struck was the cat's face. "Was that the Emeralds relocating after using all seven's power to the fullest?"

Shadow shrugged with his arms folded. "They should've landed in a special zone again." He looked to his side to the fallen bus on its side. "All of this could've been avoided." The cat agreed.

"I can fly." Shadow heard over the other people chattering. He looked to his other side to see Mary looking at her wings?/arms. Shadow walked over to her.

"Thanks again, Hedgehog." The cat gave him a thumbs up. Shadow didn't reply.

Maria noticed the presence of Shadow. "I never had such an adrenaline rush." Mary said with a hand over her heart.

"You did good."

"Thank you." She hugged Shadow. He didn't protest. "It was so... electrifying."

"Let's get the bus back on its feet. Step aside, everyone!" He announced. He tilted bus back on it's wheels. Don't worry, Shadow and Mary's stuff was okay throughout all of this. All the people too, but they aren't important. It's also assumed that the bus still works.

 _ **Eggman's Base, a Few Hours Later...**_

"Hooooooooooooohohoho!" The doctor laughed as he polished the Chaos Emerald. "Good job, for once you two aren't completely, absolutely awful." He complimented them once.

"We've had some trouble." Orbot said. "Shadow, his new friend, Mary and Cubot's inability to read a clock nearly stopped us." Cubot's somewhere else.

"Repeat that." Eggman wanted to be sure he heard him right.

 _ **Hello there! Narrator here. There were plans to make Maria have no (chaos/)powers, plans change. The species and gender of the cat**_ _ **was chosen by the writer's sister. We've once again no gag. But this time we have a reason. That reason being that Shadow's summation of his life SA2 through ShTH being good enough. Okay, we got one:**_

Maria Robotnik: The Ultimate Question asker.

 _ **No… That's just lame… Lemme try again:**_

"Sorry about this. We just came to get your Chaos Emerald."

"So give it to us!" Cubot yelled.

"Chaos Emerald? I've never won at a special stage in my life!"

 _ **...**_


End file.
